358 IBM eX5 Implementation Guide7.9.4 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11IBM System x3690 X5 with MAX5 memory expansion fully supports the latest version of twomajor Linux server distributions: RHEL6 from Red Hat and SLES11 from Novell.The installation of RHEL6 and SLES11 is a straightforward process, because all of therequired drivers for System x3690 X5 are included in the kernel. However, use the followinggeneral tips when installing either of these OSs: The x3690 X5 supports only the 64-bit version of RHEL6 and SLES11. RHEL6 and SLES11 are UEFI-compliant OSs. Each product adds its boot file on top of thesystem’s UEFI boot order. We recommend not to attach SAN storage to the server during the installation process.Attach the SAN storage after the OS is up and running. You can access more information about the installation and configuration of Red HatEnterprise Linux at the following website:https://access.redhat.com/knowledge/docs/manuals/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/ You can download Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 evaluation software from the followingwebsite:https://access.redhat.com/downloads/ You can access more information about the installation and configuration of SUSE LinuxEnterprise Server at the following website:http://www.novell.com/documentation/suse.html You can download SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 evaluation software from thefollowing website:http://www.novell.com/products/server/eval.html7.9.5 VMware vSphere ESXi 4.1The installation of VMware vSphere ESXi 4.1 on an x3690 X5 with an attached MAX5requires the installation media of the OS and an available logical drive. It is possible to use ahard drive RAID array or a USB flash drive for the logical drive. The small footprint of the ESXimakes it possible to run ESXi from a USB flash drive, which eliminates the need for adedicated RAID controller and addresses the reliability problem of a mechanical drive. Thisway, you avoid the relatively higher investment of SSD drives.An IBM System x3690 X5 attached to MAX5 allows the use of interleaved NUMA nodes. Inorder to boot and run ESXi on this system, you must enable the allowInterleavedNUMAnodesboot option.Use the following steps to install ESXi 4.1 on an x3690 X5 server scaled with MAX5:1. Boot the server using ESXi installation media.2. At the VMware VMvisor Boot Menu panel, place the cursor on ESXi Installer, and thenpress Tab to edit the boot options.3. Add the allowInterleavedNUMAnodes=TRUE parameter at the boot options line, so that theline reads:> mboot.c32 vmkboot.gz allowInterleavedNUMAnodes=TRUE --- vmkernel.gz ---sys.vgz --- cim.vgz --- ienviron.vgz --- install.vgz
